Trump's acknowledgment of Hezbollah 'utterly humiliating' for Netanyahu • FRANCE 24 English

[0:00] Israeli airstrikes on South Lebanon have killed at least eight people, [0:03] and this includes two children and their father. [0:06] This came after Hezbollah launched missiles at northern Israel overnight. [0:10] Donald Trump's words of 24 hours ago seem somewhat pointless right now. [0:14] The U.S. president said both Israel and Hezbollah agreed to dial back violence with a temporary truce. [0:20] The latest round of talks between Israel and Lebanon is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in Washington. [0:27] Lebanese negotiators are set to seek a full ceasefire that will prevent future attacks. [0:31] The talks began in April and were the first in more than three decades between the two countries, [0:36] which have no formal diplomatic relations. [0:38] Hezbollah isn't there, and Hezbollah has rejected direct talks, counting on pressure from Iran. [0:46] Everyone, Maxwell, with this. [0:47] In the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, the clear-up has begun at the scene of an Israeli strike near a hospital, [0:57] which caused extensive damage to it and injured 39 staff. [1:01] Lebanon's health minister said Israeli strikes are taking a particularly heavy toll on medical personnel [1:07] during the three-month-old war. [1:09] But among the destruction Tuesday, there was some hope. [1:14] This baby was born today. [1:17] He's just a few minutes old. [1:20] He brought us a message of life and a message of hope for the future. [1:25] Israel kept up its strikes on southern Lebanon Tuesday, hitting a string of towns, [1:34] as its troops continue to operate deeper into the country than at any time in over a quarter of a century. [1:40] This a day after U.S. President Donald Trump asked the Israeli prime minister not to attack Beirut [1:45] to avert further escalation in the war. [1:48] But the Israeli defense minister warned that it would do so if Hezbollah continued to strike northern Israel. [1:54] The prime minister and I have devised a plan together with a strategy aimed at establishing an equation [2:00] between the treatment of the Dahiyah neighborhood in Beirut and that of the northern settlements in Israel. [2:06] If they are attacked, we will strike the Dahiyah. [2:10] This principle was also made clear to the American administration. [2:14] Hezbollah announced two operations against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon in the early hours of Tuesday. [2:20] Although it claimed no cross-border attacks, the Israeli military said it intercepted two projectiles. [2:27] Iranian news agencies reported Tuesday that Israel's escalation in Lebanon had prompted Iran to suspend communications with the U.S. [2:35] The hostilities are a significant sticking point in negotiations, [2:39] as Tehran has demanded a Lebanon ceasefire as part of any wider deal. [2:43] The latest round of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has killed more than 3,400 people in Lebanon [2:49] and displaced more than one million. [2:53] On the Israeli side, at least 27 soldiers and two civilians have been killed. [3:00] Emerald Maxwell there. Let's get more. [3:01] Noga Tadopolsky is our correspondent in Jerusalem. [3:03] Noga, we spoke 24 hours ago of this unique situation where the U.S. had exchanged with Hezbollah. [3:09] And then we understood Israel was willing to dial back the violence too. [3:12] Donald Trump was congratulating himself. [3:14] I'm left with the question, what a difference a day makes. [3:20] Right. Well, it was a murky situation yesterday. [3:23] And today we have, I would say, just a tiny bit more clarity. [3:28] 24 hours after Donald Trump's announcement, what we have is that Hezbollah, [3:34] through a Hezbollah legislator in the Lebanese parliament, Fadlala, [3:40] he said publicly that Hezbollah rejects any such ceasefire deal and demands complete Israeli withdrawal [3:48] from all Lebanese territory. [3:51] On the Israeli side, we have simply no acknowledgement of this deal, no rejection, no acceptance. [3:58] It's as if the deal does not exist. [4:00] But what we're seeing on the ground is that both Hezbollah and Israel, [4:07] after a very heavy night and early morning of exchanges, do seem to be dialing it back. [4:15] But this is really no ceasefire. [4:19] And for Prime Minister Netanyahu, this has been an utter humiliation. [4:24] Seeing the American president acknowledge Hezbollah, say that he has spoken with him [4:29] directly through representatives, and basically accepting Iran's point of view, [4:35] which is that the negotiations between the U.S. and Iran won't really move forward [4:40] unless Lebanon is contained. [4:43] So in conclusion to that, what we're hearing this evening is that the White House plan is to, [4:48] quote, contain the fighting between Israel and Lebanon, in other words, quell it, [4:53] so that those negotiations between Iran and the United States can go forward. [4:58] This is exactly the opposite of what Prime Minister Netanyahu and his team had demanded, [5:05] which was that there'd be no connection between Israel's claims against Hezbollah [5:11] and whatever the U.S. and Iran are discussing regarding the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf. [5:19] Noga, the question now is, where does all this leave Benjamin Netanyahu? [5:26] Well, it leaves him high and dry, to be honest. [5:29] We see today Prime Minister Netanyahu again basically fleeing his corruption trial, [5:35] leaving after a very short period of time, showing up late in what appears to be clear contempt of court. [5:41] We see him in all sorts of legislative maneuvers to try and postpone the Israeli elections [5:49] back to their, you know, mandated legal final date, which is October 27th, [5:55] a very complicated date for Netanyahu, for whom the catastrophe of October 7th, you know, [6:02] is something he wants to escape from. But nonetheless, we see him trying to get away from elections, [6:07] trying to get away from trial, and in fact, trying to get away from any public appearances. [6:12] Prime Minister Netanyahu has not been seen in public in the past two days since Donald Trump began his announcements, [6:18] and his team, principally his defense minister today, [6:22] were really scrambling, and not very successfully, [6:25] to say that this was not a humiliation for the Prime Minister. [6:31] There were some ridiculous and perplexing exchanges on Israeli radio today, [6:36] when the defense minister was asked, [6:40] what do you make of Donald Trump saying, [6:42] I told Netanyahu to stop his army and he sent the soldiers back, [6:46] what does that even mean about Israel's sovereign status? [6:49] And the defense minister's saying, [6:52] what Donald Trump's statement means is that he's accepted the Israeli parameters regarding this war. [6:57] So we really are in Israel in a moment in which it's sort of Orwellian, [7:01] and the government is saying, [7:02] who do you believe, what you read in Donald Trump's post, [7:05] or what we're telling you here on the radio? [7:08] We here always believe you, Noga. [7:10] Thank you very much indeed for giving us that briefing on the situation where you are. [7:14] Noga Tanopolsky, our correspondent in Jerusalem.